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Our worship services this Sunday may or may not be epic. I love worship when I sense the presence of God in a spectacular way. But not every Sunday morning is like that. Nor does it need to be. Of course, we must (and we do!) pursue excellence in everything—our singing, our praying, our preaching, and even creating a worshipful atmosphere. How can we do less than pursue excellence if our great expectation is to exalt and glorify God?..

Today I’m at Clydehurst Christian Ranch in Montana. It’s about 35 miles north of Yellowstone National Park (as the crow flies), and the beauty of the mountain valley in which it lies is magnificent. Sometimes, people in our church family ask me if I miss living in Montana. Honestly, no...

What is your idea of the best place on earth? Perhaps it is a sidewalk café in Milan, Italy. Or maybe it is a beach in Florida or in Waikiki. Tomorrow, Lord willing, Priscilla and I will spend the day in Yellowstone National Park. That is one of my favorite places on this earth. But it’s not the best place. The best place is the church—where God is present among his people. I’ve been reminded of this as I’ve been meditating on Psalm 122. David, the psalmist begins by saying: I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD" (verse 1)...

God puts people in leadership to serve and protect those who are not. I keep running into this idea as I read through the Bible. In Ezekiel 34, God indicts the shepherds (leaders) of Israel for shepherding themselves instead of shepherding (caring for) the flock (God’s people). If you aspire to leadership of any kind, I highly encourage you to meditate carefully on Ezekiel 34...

Today I’m going to share some insights I’ve read recently on Twitter. I follow a handful of writers and thinkers who link me to good articles and even share some of their own thoughts. I hope that something here encourages or challenges or comforts or even troubles you. Ultimately, I hope that what I share helps you become a more faithful disciple of Jesus...

Contentment is a rare and remarkable virtue these days. We live in an age of abundance where information, entertainment, and merchandise are just a click away (thanks Google and Amazon). A typical “first world problem” is having to wait an extra day for your Amazon order. Contentment, though, is a virtue that flows from the gospel of Christ. Here are a few observations about it...

Reading has fallen on hard times. The concern is not simply that people don’t read. Rather, the problem is that people read merely for information. They read content rather than texts. As religion professor David Gordon pointed out a decade ago, contemporary readers “read almost exclusively for information or content; they almost never read for the pleasure obtained by reading an author whose command of language is exceptional.” I believe this creates problems for Bible reading as well...

The New Testament declares that the Lord’s coming and the end of all things is near (James 5:8; 1 Peter 4:7). Jesus himself said, “I am coming soon” (Revelation 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20). According to the Apostle Paul, “the time is short” (1 Corinthians 7:29). Yet it has been almost two thousand years since these statements. So how can we say or sing with confidence that Jesus is coming soon? Here are a few thoughts on this “problem.” I’ve borrowed a couple insights from the final chapter of a book on the second coming which my brother, Dave, turned into a publisher last week...

What does it look like to live wisely in the 21st century? Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman III has reflected deeply on this question in his study of the Wisdom writings in the Old Testament—Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Here is a brief summary of his description of a 21st century Christian wise person...

“It’s time we faced the truth,” says Leslie Leyland Fields. “There is no free speech in this country. Nor should there be.” She wrote these words last week in a blog post on “Rosanne Barr and the End of Free Speech.” I’ve always paid attention to whatever Leslie writes because she’s a godly woman, careful thinker, fine writer, and a hard worker. She and her family run a commercial fishing business in Alaska, and I have friends who have worked on their boats in the summer...

The Apostle Paul told Timothy to treat “older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity” (1 Timothy 5:2). I spent a couple minutes on this statement in a recent sermon, and I want to return to it today since we are in a moment when the misconduct of pastors and Christian leaders towards women has been exposed. Bill Hybels recently stepped down from his role as senior pastor at Willow Creek Community Church (instead of retiring in October as planned) due to allegations of sexual misconduct...

There is a good reason for our church family to sacrifice to raise $600,000 for a new parking lot. But it’s not what you might think. To be sure, one reason for the capital campaign we announced last Sunday night is because we have no choice. Patching potholes can buy a little time, but it can’t slow down the deterioration of our parking lot. If you want to see what it would look like in a few years at its current rate of decay, visit the abandoned parking lot behind Gino’s East Pizza a few blocks from our church building...

“A church with the truth of the gospel in its theology can produce the opposite of the gospel in its practice.” Ray Ortlund Jr., a former member of our church family, made this observation in his book, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. However, as he points out, the gospel should create “a culture of grace where good things happen to bad people.” Today I’d like to share some of Ray’s wisdom, because I love his vision for the way the gospel should shape the culture of the church. But first, let’s remind ourselves what the glorious gospel is. According to 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, it is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised to life. Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished God’s glorious victory over the powers of sin and death and made it possible for us to be rescued by faith alone in Christ alone.

Unfortunately, as Ray observes, “A gospel culture is harder to lay hold of than gospel doctrine.” The reason for this is a barrier every church faces. Ray explains: “The primary barrier to the ministry of the gospel through your church is not out in the world; the primary barrier is within your church itself. Every church, to some extent, clogs and hinders the gospel, even as we intend to advance the gospel.”

Yes, the fact is that churches are full of sin. That’s why the Apostle Paul, in his letters, keeps challenging us to let the gospel shape the way that we live and treat each other. To believers struggling to get along, he writes: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:3-8). Similarly, in Ephesians 4:32, Paul says: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Then, to believers struggling to control their passions, Paul writes: “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” (Titus 2:11). It’s clear, then that the gospel of Christ should inform how we live as the church.

Allowing the gospel to shape our church’s culture is a huge challenge. Ray Ortlund says: “It requires more relational wisdom and finesse. It involves stepping into a kind of community unlike anything we’ve experienced, where we happily live together on a love we can’t create. A gospel culture requires us not to bank on our own importance or virtues, but to forsake self-assurance and exult together in Christ alone.” I can assure you that our elders and our ministry are constantly wrestling with what adjustments we need to make so that our church is more aligned with the gospel. We cannot advance it if we are not practicing it and living out its values. May the gospel shape us into a church of what Ray calls “bright, resilient, rugged hope”—a church that faces life as it is and is not defeated.”

This Sunday, August 27, I look forward to preaching Matthew 18:1-14. This is the second message in our Kingdom Character sermon series, and the title is “What Jesus Said about Humility.” Also, I’m making a quick trip to Portland, Oregon to speak at Western Seminary’s faculty retreat. I’m scheduled to deliver the plenary address on Monday, August 28, at noon (Chicago time) on “The Transforming Power of the Gospel.” So I would appreciate your prayers. I consider this opportunity as an extension of our church’s ministry to the larger body of Christ.

Our family is in the “back to school” mode. Priscilla is back at her job running the lunch program at Adler Grade School, and our grandson, Blake started first grade at Copeland Grade School. On the lighter side, our daughter Erin, who lives in southern California, told us a funny story about our one-year old grandson, Madden. Recently, Manny (Erin’s husband) went to their church’s nursery to pick up Madden after a recent worship service, and he found Madden going up and down a slide. The nursery worker said that every time Madden got to the bottom, he would point to the top. He wanted the worker to carry him and put him on top of the slide so he didn’t have to crawl the three feet and climb the two step. Erin said, “It looks like we have a lazy one.” Alright, thanks for reading. I’ll see you on Sunday!

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